| Demospongiae |
Halichondrida |
Axinellidae |
Auletta? sp.-orange velvety tubes |
6 |
Narrow funnell-like tubes, orange to orange yellow, arising form a narrow stalk, single or branched. Spicules are styles, some flexuous, some with a slightly wide head or a subterminal ring; and curved oxea with blunt to acute ends. The skeleton is a reticulation of ascending-radiating and interconnecting, loose tracts of spicules embedded in spongin. The inner part of tubes appear not to be reinforced by sheets of sinuous spicules as the definition of the genus states, hence its tentative assignment. The two Western Atlantic species described are deep water, vis. Auletta sycinularia Schmidt, 1870 and Auletta tuberosa Alvarez, van Soest and Rützler, 1998, both tubular. Detailed comparisons are pending. |
|
orange-yellow,tube,soft |
